Ponyville - The Fallen King
The Ever Changing Moon
-
Chapter 1
Ponyville
Part 5 - The Fallen King
“As you already know, I was once a crystal pony, living with my family in the frozen north. We were well adapted to the cold and could grow crystals as construction material for our homes, occasionally facing attacks from monsters, dragons and raids from the yak tribes.”
Twilight nodded. Unlike Celestia, Empress Cadence was more willing to share past events, though she suspected that Cadence wasn't telling her everything.
“To help my fellow ponies, I researched a better way to channel our unique magic, creating a powerful artifact after years of hard work. I called it Crystal Heart. The artifact used our unique magic to protect our homes from the cold and invaders, in addition to causing my unexpected ascension. The ponies were so grateful that they chose me to be their leader.” She paused. “Twelve hundred years ago we expanded, creating an Empire that could almost rival Equestria.”
She placed a forehoof on her chest and continued, “Instead of earth pony magic I possess the magic the crystal ponies share, which is why my features become more crystalline the closer I am to the Crystal Heart.” She chuckled. “I even agreed to allow you research my magic types, and it sure has been a trip to remember.”
“What about the pureblood thestrals?” Twilight asked, levitated pen trembling and ready.
“Impatient, are we?” Cadence asked, rubbing the top of Twilight’s head playfully, who just rolled her eyes. “Purebloods were few in number and we were unaware of their existence. They are powerful creatures who can fly with bat-like wings and cast spells with their eyes.” After seeing Spike place a cup of water on the end table, she took a deep breath and drank it, wiping her mouth. “Thank you.”
“No biggie. I know satisfying her thirst for knowledge can be very tiring,” Spike said, lampshade still present on his head. “Once you’re done, feel free to join us downstairs and have some fun.”
“Will do,” Cadence said with a smile before looking back at Twilight. “Where was I?”
“Spell casting with eyes.”
“Oh, yes.” She coughed to clear her throat. “Lord Sombra was one of those creatures. He lead five other purebloods in an attack on my bedchamber one night. I woke up with numerous bruises and half of my magic spent, used to protect my body from the deadly blows. I was too young and weak to defeat all of them.”
“Did they drink your blood?” Twilight asked.
“Sombra drank it, and was overwhelmed with its power, using it against the guards while holding me hostage.”
“That’s terrible, no wonder you didn't want to talk about it,” Twilight said as her ears drooped. She gently placed her forehoof on Cadence’s shoulder while giving her an encouraging smile.
Cadence hung her head in sorrow. “Sombra paid a terrible price as the power corrupted him, destroying his wings during the battle and nearly turning his entire body into black mist. His mind was twisted as well. He became more cruel and power hungry, keeping me locked away even from his allies as his personal feeding bag.” She sighed. “But it wasn’t enough for him.”
“What did he do?”
Cadence continued, “He corrupted the crystal Heart and used its power. Love and happiness was no longer empowering it, but instead fear and hate. With it he enslaved my subjects and set his sights on Equestria.”
“But Princess Celestia stopped him?”
“Not alone,” the empress corrected. “Celestia and her sister Luna faced him together. They were much older than me and managed to overpower him and his allies while avoiding his army.”
“Wait a moment,” Twilight interrupted. “Alicorns grow stronger with age, so I understand that your blood wasn’t enough to let him win.” She murmured, “Not to mention his numerous weaknesses…” she raised her voice, “but what of the Crystal Heart?”
“Sombra used it to defend himself from the Elements of Harmony as their powers matched one another. Unable to win, he took the entire empire hostage.”
“How?”
“Sombra created a fail-safe in advance, one final trick he could use in case of his defeat. The corrupted Crystal Heart was connected to all of my subjects. While he didn’t have enough time to brainwash or turn them all into vamponies, he could still use their fear to power up the Crystal Heart enough to banish the empire. He used it in a gamble with the royal sisters, demanding their surrender.”
“And… and…?” Twilight’s forelegs trembled while her heart tried to escape her chest. “How did they stop him? Did Princess Celestia blind him with solar-flare? Did she teleport the artifact away? Or maybe Luna knew a useful spell to save the day?”
“If only it was that simple,” Cadence commented. “Sombra was on his guard against his foes, but had not expected to be betrayed by his allies. All purebloods by his side struck him down and secured the Crystal Heart before surrendering to the princesses.”
"Why did they betray him? I mean, being banished with the rest of the Empire doesn't sound good at all, but shouldn't they trust their leader? His gamble might have worked."
“You call it a gamble? I suppose, in a sense, it was,” Cadence said softly as she clenched her forehooves together, her ears drooping. “Sombra was mad, insane. He treated others, even his own kind, as tools. He probably thought of his slaves and even allies as cards or sacrificial pawns in his hooves.”
She looked to the side and wiped her damp eyes. “Purebloods may be masters of dark magic, but even they have their limits to how much they can handle before it twists their minds.”
Twilight bit her lip as she stepped forward, caught off guard as she had rarely seen Cadence depressed like this.
“He threatened my subjects without mercy. Tortured his prisoners. He mocked and beat me everyday before drinking my blood.” Cadence took a quick breath. “He attacked another pureblood just for being near my prison cell, then nearly killed him when he raised complaints about his cruel dictatorship.”
She paused upon feeling Twilight’s forehoof on her shoulder and seeing worry in her eyes. “You don’t have to relive such painful memories if you it makes you feel uncomfortable. I’m sorry.”
Cadence sighed. “I should be apologizing for worrying you.”
Twilight removed her hoof and settled back onto her cushion. “It’s alright… I understand that those events were very harsh for you.” She levitated over another quill from her saddlebag, the last one damaged from fast writing now laying on the table next to the bed. “What happened to Sombra?”
“He was killed.” Seeing her shock, Cadence continued, “Celestia, merciful as she was, wanted him arrested, while her sister wanted him dead. Before they could reach a compromise, the purebloods delivered their leader a finishing blow.”
“What happened next? Were they imprisoned?”
Cadence shook her head, continuing with heavy tone, “I, as their victim, demanded their execution before they could turn or brainwash more ponies, trying to convince royal sisters that purebloods cannot be trusted. Celestia prefered them imprisoned, but Luna protected them, saying they could benefit Equestria as mighty allies if given a chance.”
“Allow me to guess the rest,” Twilight interrupted with a gesture of her forehoof. She stood up from her seat and levitated over a cup of cold water, giving her favourite Empress the break she so needed. “The Crystal Empire flourished under your leadership. Out of fear of the purebloods, you formed a big and well-trained army and gathered a large supply of silver weaponry.”
Cadence nodded, letting her faithful listener to continue as her mood slowly improved.
“Luna tried to show Equestria that thestrals could be trusted, most likely leading them to defend it against monsters at night, using their talents to her advantage.” She took a moment to drain her cup of water. “I assume Sombra’s campaign worsened their reputation, and after two centuries a civil war took place. Luna was corrupted or turned by those she protected and ended up being banished to the moon. The purebloods went into hiding while my mentor tried to hide their existence to avoid another war.” She wiped sweat from her forehead, breathing heavily.
“You get an ‘A minus’. You didn’t mention the part where your mentor hunted down the strongest purebloods so they wouldn’t become a threat,” Cadence commented, noticing two balloons forming on Twilight’s cheeks. A weak smile formed on her lips.
“That’s not fair! My mentor is very secretive and you know that!” She crossed her forearms and huffed, looking to the side.
"I'm just messing with you," Cadence responded. She stepped onto the floor and embraced Twilight with her wing before rubbing the top of her head. “Since your endless curiosity is satisfied for now, how about we have a little fun at the party?”
“Do we have to?” Twilight asked with a frown as she slid out of the embrace.
“Come on, it’ll be fun. We might not get another opportunity,” Cadence pleaded as she took off her armor, one piece at a time. She could see the hesitation last for a moment before it was replaced with a broad grin, as if Twilight had just been given a rare book.
“Alright, let’s do this. It’s a great opportunity to introduce you to my school friends.” Twilight looked up at her and asked, “Do you have anything to give Moon Dancer for her birthday? She’s sort of a fan of mine and she loves books.”
Cadence spread her left wing and pushed Twilight towards the stairs encouragingly. “If that’s the case, I can summon a large crystal and carve her a statue. Maybe a life-sized one will impress her.”
“I’m sure it will. She may even bombard you with questions about your magic that would surpass even my curiosity, I can see it now,” Twilight said before they both laughed.
“Maybe you should try to make more friends while you’re here. That pink earth pony for example,” Cadence suggested, stepping from the stairs and pointing at the mare in question.
“You mean Pinkie Pie? She’s like an upgraded version of Minuette with super speed. She’s way too unstable in my personal opinion,” Twilight responded, following her favourite empress.
After noticing Pinkie Pie's hyperactive dance moves, ten times crazier than Twilight’s wildest dance, Cadence laughed. “I love her enthusiasm already,” she joked, only for the earth pony to vanish from her sight and feel something taking a seat on her back. A moment later soft belly pressed against her ears while an upside-down head looked her in the eyes.
“I feel we’ll get along, friend-press Cadence.”
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Moar!
...Calling for their executoin when they actually realized the errors of their ways, and killed their own leader to assure peace?
Yeash. That's cold, even for Cadance.
I'm sure that merciful and kind treatment had no consequences what-so-ever on why the purebloods tried to empower the one alicorn in existence that didn't want them dead, and it turned out so well for Luna, them and Equestria. (Sarcasm.)
7113592
I just took the obvious conclusion from that. Cadance's connection to the crystal heart means that when it was corrupted, so was she.
7113597
...Good point, actually. I doubt being a sick monster's undying snack was fun either.
Explains rather neatly why Luna and Celestia barely considered her counsel despite being the rightful ruler of the realm and technically their equal, though.
7113578
We're doing our best.
7113592
Keep in mind that they willingly invaded her country, took her hostage and kept imprisoned for who knows how long.
When Celestia and Luna freed Cadence form her prison and explained what happened, alongside telling her how purebloods killed Sombra before he could banish her empire, surely her reaction "You cannot trust those monsters! You need to execute them before they turn your subjects or try to take over Equestria" is justified. From hers perspective, they killed their leader, so what would keep them from killing their allies?
What I am trying to say is that you cannot expect a victim to show mercy to her tormentors. (I suppouse Cadence would protect the pureblood who questioned Sombra's dictatorship, however she would want others dead).
7113597
That too. Didn't expect anyone to actucally figure it out by drawing a conclussion. But yes, aside being tortured, having her creation she was connected too corrupted did little to keep Cadence sane. Though overtime as the crystal heart returned to normal, so did she, and instead of anger and hate towards purebloods, she was terrified of them. Which is why she strenghtened her army.
7113610
7113639
It still seems like a extremely stupid precedent to set (if a passionate one fitting for the alicorn of 'heart') to execute the traitors that helped you.
Banishment from the Crystal Empire on pain on death seems like it would have amounted to the same thing that actually happened, while still showing some amount of leniency for the attempt at making amends.
Granted, a thousand years is a long time even for immortals. It's not implausible that such was simply the custom at the time, and even the traitors expected it to still happen.
another stunning chapter.
Interesting. One thing:
Why did people feel the need for a 200-year civil war BEFORE they tried deplomacy and figuring out how to keep everyone mostly happy? IK they're vampires, which makes the arrangement pretty hard, but no one even TRIED?!?!
i'm going to go ahead and label a good 75% of what cadence told twilight fueled by her own paranoia and the 'historical facts' the hunters put out aka propaganda.
INCREDIBLE!!!! Just....wow! What a chapter...very dark but wow!!! AWESOME!!!
7114409 At the very least
Ooh, Crystal Empire backstory! I don’t have much to say this time, save for how this story’s quality continues to be right up there.
Just a little typo.
7114099
I think you missread it.
There was 200 years of peace after Sombra's defeat before the civil war started. For 200 years Celestia tried to keep her subjects in check while Luna gave purebloods place to live and duty to follow (those purebloods from the Crystal Empire weren't the only ones, there were many hiding in Equestria as well).
However, the more time passed, the more ponies learned about purebloods, and they also learned that Sombra who tried to take over the Crystal Empire was one of them. The fact that purebloods hiding in Equestira turned many ponies into thestrals as well as drank bloods of innocent also came to light.
It took 200 years before fear and distrust grew to a point where Celestia and Luna's couldn't stop the civil war.
After banishment of Nightmare Moon where purebloods retreated and went into hiding, Celestia started hunting the strongest purebloods to ensure that another war won't take place. Her action was enough to ensure her subjects that blood-drinking creatures are no longer a threat, and overtime most ponies forgot about their existence.
Some however still remember, which is why the hunters guild have so many members and funds.
7114409
7114695
Sombra being a pureblood and leading 5 of them to take over the Empire wasn't a propaganda, this really happened. It was the worst weeks or even months in Cadence's life.
7115377
Fixed, thanks.
Though the low number of readers is a bit worriedsome. The audience for this story and series in general sure got small.
7115478 THAT makes sense.
7115487 that part I believe, lunas corruption being purly by the thestrals and that all thestrals ever are evil because evil however is propaganda especialy regarding that celestia herself has some blame in lunas fall.
Forgot to mark this in my tracking
Anyway, love the sequel so far. I can't wait to see how the mane 5 (For now) will interact with each other under the new circumstances! Poor Cadence has been through a lot, and I adore her fast relationship with Pinkie Pie 
I wonder what Discord and Chrysalis are up to in this new timeline? 
Can't wait for an update 
This is awesome. I look forward to the next chapter.
Hm, interesting.